Top Three
FDA Advisors Recommend Updating Boosters to Target Omicron: The FDA's VRBPAC voted to recommend updating Covid vaccines to include an Omicron strain: Yes: 19; No: 2; Abstain: 0.
NYT: "The panel’s 19-2 vote paves the way for F.D.A. regulators to recommend a new formulation for the boosters that the Biden administration hopes to offer later this year, before an expected winter resurgence of the virus."
"The committee debated but did not specify which formulation might work best. The F.D.A. appeared to be leaning toward a combination of the existing vaccine and two subvariants of Omicron, known as BA.4 and BA.5."
"The panel struggled with what one member called “trying to predict the future” of where the virus is headed. Another panelist called the data “uncomfortably scant.”
"But more members of the panel seemed convinced that an updated booster was needed. “We’re all troubled by the steady erosion of immune protection,” Dr. Mark Sawyer, an infectious disease specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, said. “We’re going to be behind the eight ball if we wait longer.”"
Stat has a good live blog on the meeting.
"There has also been considerable vaccine fatigue among the public. Most people got their first two-dose series. But fewer have gotten boosters, even though they add protection. Hard numbers: 71% of eligible people have received a primary series, but only 26% of those over 50 have gotten a second booster (that is, a fourth shot)."
"VRBPAC heard a presentation from Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lessler was presenting modeling data that tries to project where the pandemic is going. Lessler said the 20 modeling groups that feed into the Scenario Modeling Hub looked at several scenarios — fast versus slow waning of vaccine protection, no new variants versus the arrival of a new variant that has a 30% escape potential (i.e. it is different enough that it can evade a portion of antibodies generated by vaccination or previous infection). Based on their work, it looks like the fall could be difficult. “Incidence is tracking with the more pessimistic scenarios,” Lessler noted."
FDA’s Dr Peter Marks says at the advisory committee meeting that "it’s hoped the next boosters could be ready for administration by early October."
"Pfizer said it could have product available in the first week of October, if there is an agreement in place that provides a quick regulatory pathway for updated vaccines."
"Moderna said it could have updated vaccine available in late October, early November “at large scale.”
"Novavax, which hasn’t yet received an emergency use authorization for its vaccine, said it could have updated vaccine available in the fourth quarter of the year, but noted that it believes its prototype vaccine, which includes an adjuvant, offers broader protection, and may not require updating yet."
The BA.5 Story: Via Eric Topol.
"The Omicron sub-variant BA.5 is the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen. It takes immune escape, already extensive, to the next level, and, as a function of that, enhanced transmissibility, well beyond Omicron (BA.1) and other Omicron family variants that we’ve seen (including BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, and BA.4)."
"You could say it’s not so bad because there hasn’t been a marked rise in hospitalizations and deaths as we saw with Omicron, but that’s only because we had such a striking adverse impact from Omicron, for which there is at least some cross-immunity (BA.1 to BA.5)."
"Here I will review (1) what we know about its biology; (2) its current status around the world; and (3) the ways we can defend against it."
Elmo: Received his vaccine today.
Sesame Workshop, in collaboration with the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative's COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative launched a new PSA today featuring Elmo and his dad Louie. (Press Release)
Federal
Surgeon General: Via the Washington Post, "Vivek Murthy wants to fix our mental health crisis."
Covid-19 Research
Primary Series Completion, Booster Dose Eligibility, and Booster Dose Receipt by Age: Via the CDC.
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report
Rare Heart-related Side Effects Higher With Moderna COVID Vaccine: CIDRAP on a new study.
"When the investigators focused solely on people who received their second dose during the period of enhanced passive surveillance (from Jun 1, 2021, onward), they found that the incidence of myocarditis or pericarditis was 62.5 cases per million doses after the second Moderna dose (95% confidence interval [CI], 42.4 to 88.6), compared with 29.0 cases per million doses (95% CI, 20.2 to 40.3) for Pfizer—or more than twice as high."
"Men 18 to 24 years old had the highest rate: 299.5 cases per million doses after the second Moderna dose (95% CI, 171.2 to 486.4), compared with 59.2 cases per million doses (95% CI, 19.2 to 138.1) for Pfizer—or about five time higher with Moderna."
"Study data also revealed that a Pfizer dose followed by a Moderna dose was associated with higher reported rates of myocarditis or pericarditis than were two consecutive doses of Moderna vaccine, a finding that the authors say requires further exploration."
"An 8-week interval may be optimal for some people aged 12 years or older, especially for male individuals aged 12 to 39 years."
"In placing the risk in perspective, they add, "These findings need to be considered within the context of absolute risk because myocarditis and pericarditis are still rare or very rare events."
State
Illinois: In the Chicago area, pediatric mental health Emergency Department (ED) visits increased 27% at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a 4 percent increase monthly through February 2021, according to a study.
Michigan: The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education approved opening up the elementary portion of the Virtual K-12 to school-of-choice students.
New York: The NYT reports:
"In New York City, public school funding is tied to student enrollment, and students have been leaving city schools in droves for years. But during the pandemic, school budgets were largely untouched, buoyed by federal aid."
"Now, the city is saying schools must make cuts to reckon with the steep declines — to the tune of over $200 million — and start preparing for even steeper reductions next year. That largely means culling teachers."
"Nearly 77 percent of New York City district schools, about 1,200 out of 1,600 in the system, have seen their enrollments decline and are facing the budget cuts after Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council agreed to a municipal budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The budget reversed a policy under the previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, to keep funding for individual schools steady during the pandemic."
"Hundreds of teachers are being let go, or “excessed,” by school principals, and placed into a districtwide hiring pool — leading to an uproar among parents, educators and even some of the elected officials who voted for the reduced budgets."
Tennessee: The Niswonger Foundation was awarded a Tennessee Accelerating Literacy and Learning Corps (TN ALL Corps) Community Partner Grant from the Tennessee Department of Education to support high dosage/low ratio tutoring for 18 school districts in Northeast Tennessee.
International
Canada: "The pandemic upset how we assess students. Experts worry that's also hampered recovery efforts."
Economic Recovery
Recession: Good summary of where forecasters are in terms of a recession. Seems like most are hovering between 30-50% but also believe it will be brief and mild.
US IPOs Can’t Shake 2022 Slump After Thriving Through Pandemic: Via Bloomberg.
"Companies have raised a combined $4.9 billion via US initial public offerings this year, less than 6% of the record sum raised in the first half of 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
Resources
The Learning Engineering Tools Competition: Generated more than 800 initial proposals from more than 60 countries, showcasing innovative ways to address pressing challenges and opportunities in education. 30 proposals were selected.
The educational tools developed by the winning teams have the potential to impact over 4 million students by the end of 2022 and more than 40 million students within the next three years, according to estimates calculated by each team.
What Schools Really Learned From Remote Learning: Via EdWeek.
Absolute Chaos: You have to watch this a few times to see everything.
Like the coach getting hit in the shin.
The kid getting hit in the head at the 0:10 mark.
Another kid checking out his glove the whole time and missing all the action.